4 Things We Learned about Online Gaming in 2018
Another year has come and gone, so what exactly did we learn from 2018. With major developments in augmented and virtual reality, and new titles like Fortnite shooting straight into the viral stratosphere, what can we take away from such an exciting year? It’s clear that the video game industry is enjoying a period of incredible growth but what can that tell us about how the gaming world is advancing and adapting? Here are 4 must-know facts about video gaming in 2018.
The most popular way to play
According to statistics taken from the 2018 Games Developers’ Conference, the most popular way to play was via PC or Mac as 53% of developers created games for these platforms. That’s great news if you enjoy logging on to your computer to play your favorite combat games or the free slots offered by Caesars Games! The reports also found 38% were developing app games for smartphones and tablets while around a quarter were developing games for PS4, Xbox one and VR headsets.
Who’s playing
A major question on everyone’s minds is that if the industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, then where are all these new players coming from? In the US, around 64% of the population now enjoy playing video games — that’s a pretty significant number! Of those who enjoy gaming, the average age of male gamers is 33, while for females it’s 37. Research has also found the main motive for gaming for men is competition while for women it’s an interest in design.
These games came out on top
Think you can guess which the most played games of 2018 were? Well, here they are. For PC, the most played game was League of Legends. The latest edition of the multiplayer online battle arena video game was only released last year and shot to unparalleled realms of popularity. The second best-seller was World of Warcraft which sold around 6.5 million units throughout the year. However, as far as critics were concerned, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina which was released back in 1998 remains the best game of all time and wasn’t pushed off the top spot by any of 2018’s offerings.
Mobile gaming is on the up
A key learning gained from 2018 is that mobile gaming is one sector of the industry set to grow at an unprecedented rate. In fact, by 2020, revenue from mobile gaming apps is predicted to shoot up by 44% in comparison to 2016. Revenue from tablet gaming is set to increase by 42.31% by 2021. Research has also found that mobile gaming is particularly popular among children with around 63% regularly using devices to access games. That said, an interesting study by NDP Group found 60% of children actually prefer playing on their consoles over mobile devices.